sometimes you win

Today I had a good day. I am very proud of myself for saving over 70 dollars on groceries. Normally we spend around 250 each week on groceries. Which for me is insane. I hate spending that much money. I coupon clip every week either by newspaper or online. I have read other blogs and bought on sales but nothing worked until I got smart and figured it out for myself. What worked for me was to make an inventory of all of the things that we have in the house food wise. Then I sat down and made a menu from that inventory. I made a menu for two weeks. The next step was to add on the grocery list only the items I needed from the menu after using things from the inventory. The result a grocery bill of 180. I plan on making that a lower bill next week. I also have looked up recipes so that we are not having the same things over and over again. There is also a leftover sheet on my wall, so when we have leftovers we write down what the item is and what date we put it in the fridge. I did this because my hubby was constantly asking how old is this? Sometimes I would remember but I decided this was a better way. When we eat a leftover it is crossed off. Also every Thursday we have a leftover night where we eat what leftovers we want and Friday we throw away the whatever is a week old. This way food is not wasted and we aren't making science experiments. My wall by my dishwasher looks like a paper wall lol. There is a grocery list, leftover list, inventory list and list of rules for my oldest. Plus we have two whiteboards. One is for the reading competition my oldest and I are having. The other is a list of daily chores and punishments for the oldest, plus dates of when I last did the household chores(see because of my multiple sclerosis, I sometimes forgot when I do things, so this helps me having reminders). Also we use it to put up list of things we want to do like clean the garage, mail letters, stuff like that. I know I am a bit of an organizer freak, but I like being structured it helps me. Another good thing that happened today was my oldest came home from school and started on her homework without anyone asking. She finished it in an hour and gave it to me to check it. Then she went upstairs and started on her chores with out me asking. I was so happy for her behavior that I went upstairs and told her how proud I was. She said she just felt like being good. It was a good night with no arguing by her and a good visit with my dad(which we do on Wednesdays). Also got to try out this frozen yogurt place by my house called yumz. It was so yummy. You walk in and get a container and fill it with whatever flavor yogurt you like then add toppings then weigh then pay. It was fun. A good ending to a good day. I am so proud of myself today and I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. I also decided today that on a daily basis or at least a few times a week I will put makeup on and do my hair to feel pretty and boost my self esteem. You see I normally don't wear makeup anymore well I do but only eyeliner and eyebrow pencil unless I go out to see friends. And I usually throw my hair up in a bun or ponytail when I am home. I am starting to feel homely and have low self esteem. So besides the feeling pretty part I will also start to walk every day at night with my hubby and kids so I am not stuck in the house and so that I can stay toned up. I decided to not feel so bored but to do something about it. Also during nap time I will read and paint and not just stay glued to the laptop. Today I feel motivated.